03-27-17 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING MARCH 27, 2017 None wished to speak in favor of this bill. Those wishing to speak in opposition to this bill: Antonius Northern, 234 Rue Flambeau, South Bend, IN, stated that his current question is similar to his previous one. Mr. Northern stated that as this bill concerned itself with enterprise funds, the assumption would be that construction projects would come of it. He asked if there were any documentation or assurance of any kind from the Administration or the Department of Public Works that any of these projects would go forward with the intent of hiring minorities to execute them. John Murphy returned to the podium for a rebuttal. Mr. Murphy stated that his response was also similar to his previous one, in that there is an inclusive hiring process in place. Councilmember Oliver Davis asked if Mr. Murphy could elaborate on that process. Mr. Murphy responded that he was not the expert on the matter and so could not offer any real details. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic recommended a Council update and committee hearing on the matter in the near future. Councilmember Tim Scott made a motion to send Bill No. 17 -17 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Councilmember Dr. David Varner seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. 66 -16 PUBLIC HEARING ON AN ORDINANCE OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA AMENDING VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE SOUTH BEND MUNICIPAL CODE AT CHAPTER 17, ARTICLES 4 AND 6 TO ADDRESS NEW WATER RATES AND CHARGES Councilmember Karen White made a motion to accept Substitute Bill No. 66 -16. Councilmember John Voorde seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. Councilmember Dr. David Varner, Chair of the Utilities Committee, reported that they met this afternoon and send this bill forward with no recommendation. Eric Horvath, Director of Public Works, with offices on the 13th Floor of the County -City Building, South Bend, IN, served as the presenter of this bill. Mr. Horvath stated that everyone has a right to clean water and, quoting Thomas Fuller, stated that "you never know the worth of water until the well is dry." He stated, There is nothing more appropriate than that quote today as we talk about the bill that's in front of you, which is an ordinance to look at increasing our water rates to help support these new serious capital needs that we have for our water utility. We talked about some specifics in the budget, and then we, subsequent to that, held some meetings in mid - September, 2016 with our twenty -five (25) largest water users in the City. We submitted the first proposal on October 5th, 2016, which was an ordinance amending sections of Municipal Code Chapter 17 to address new water rates and charges. Reflected in that ordinance was a $4.76 increase for an average residential user. Subsequent to that, we received some Council feedback at the committee meeting and we put together the substitute bill that you have in front of you today — hopefully reflected in some of that are comments we received from Council, and that included a couple of things: one (1) is the use of TIF dollars, and two (2) is a phased -in approach. Mr. Horvath stated, So, the phased -in approach would be that, instead of the $4.76 increase for an average residential user on the water portion of their bill, it would be $2.43 in year one (l)— pending the IURC approval, which is typically about a three- hundred (300) day process after the Council passes this ordinance. It still does need to go through IURC. There will be a public hearing here in South Bend before it's finalized, and that whole process takes roughly three- 26